Vegan Chocolate Strawberry Cake topped with Beet Frosting

It's hard to believe it's still winter. Seattle's weather has been sunny and dry and on Valentine's Day it will be near 60-degrees. 

The late-winter and spring blossoms are blooming around Queen Anne hill. The beautiful camellia trees are budding, if not yet already bloomed. It's one of the best parts of living in a  temperate climate; life is always in bloom. 

Camellias come in different shapes, sizes and colors, but the tree is best known for its beautiful deep pink petals. 

February revolves around love, chocolate and anything pink. My past Valentine's Day inspirations included vegan brownie bites topped with raspberry coconut cream frosting and my recent vegan blood orange cake. 

At this time of year, the camellia is my inspiration to experiment with plant-based frostings. Interestingly, each method of cooking and product transforms into different-hued frostings, just like the camellia plant. 

In Seattle, spring flowers are sold at the Pike's Market and in stores. This purple-pink bouquet motivated me to try something new for this month of love and purification. Although you can't purify yourself on sugar, beets are the theme this month. 

In my beet "root chakra" soup recipe, I talk about the historical aspect of beets, how the Romans use beets and the purifying effects beets have on our system. Beets are one of the most powerful foods created from the earth. They too have a symbolic meaning. 

And since my birthday is on February 7th, my one training client gave me the book, "Jitterbug perfume" for my birthday. Charles Dickens, Laura Ingells Wilder and I share the same birthdate. And because of that, I celebrated this cake with literal-inspiration. 

In the first few pages of the book, the PNW author, Tom Robbins talks about beets in the most metaphysical type of way.

My favorite client gave me this lovely #book for my birthday today! ❤️ #memoir #literature #bookstagram #books #bookshelf #birthday #birthdaygirl #seattle #seattlenw #seattlelife #reading #spiritual #author #writer #writing

A photo posted by Elizabeth Kovar (@erkovar) on Feb 7, 2017 at 9:49pm PST

"The beet is the most intense of vegetables.....

...the beet is the murderer returned to the scene of the crime. The beet is what happens when the cherry finishes with the carrot. The beet is the ancient ancestor of the autumn moon, bearded, buried, all but fossilized; the dark green sails of the grounded moon-boat stitched with veins of primordial plasma; the kite string that once connected the moon to the Earth now a muddy whisker drilling desperately for rubies."

Beets are our life blood. Together, strawberry and beets make the perfect dessert. 

I created this recipe to be sweet, but not overly sweet. If you want it to be ultra-sweet, you'll need to add more sugar to the cake. 

I omit high amounts of sugar because the frosting is the most sweet part of the cake. Therefore, I do not want to consume even more sugar. If you bake the cake with out the frosting, it'll definitely need more sugar. 

I used fresh beet juice, but you can use bottled juice. Beet juice is intense, so you do not need too much of it. Depending on how dark or light you want the frosting, gradually add in the beet juice. Light, fluffy and pink, this is a fun cake to make and decorate even beyond Valentine's Day. 

If you celebrate this "Hallmark" holiday, I wish you the sweetest day of the year. 

Vegan Chocolate Strawberry Cake topped with Beet Frosting
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 35-40 minutes
Equipment: 6-inch spring foam pan

Cake Ingredients:
1.5 cups of flour
1/3 cup unsweetend coco powder
1 cup unsweetened almond milk (or vanilla)
1 heaping cup of fresh strawberries, washed
1/4 cup cane sugar
1 3/4 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp vanilla
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

Frosting Ingredients:
7 tbsp of vegan buttery stick, at room temperature 
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cup powder sugar
1 - 1 1/4 tbsp beet juice

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350-degrees.Begin making the cake. 

​Place all the dry ingredients into a bowl and mix. Blend the strawberries and milk using a blender. Mix the milk with the sugar and the remaining wet ingredients.

Add the wet into the dry and fold the dry into the wet. Do not over mix. Spray or oil a 6-inch spring foam pan (or can use a 8 or 9 inch pan if you do not have a spring foam, the cake will be shorter but wider). Bake the cake for 35-40 minutes or until a knife comes clean. 

While the cake bakes, make the frosting.  

In a bowl, or mixer, beat the frosting and vanilla together using an eggbeater. Add in the powder sugar 1/4 cup at a time. I make my frosting sweet, but not overly sweet so add more if needed. 

Gradually, pour in the beet juice to your desired color. I used 1 1/4 tbsp beet juice for a darker frosting. 

​Once the cake completely cools, frost the cake and enjoy! 

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